‘He’s so hot!’ Casey Affleck shooting film in Maple Bay
MAPLE BAY — Kirsten Kiedaisch Hendrickson was beside herself with excitement after learning Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck would be in town shooting scenes for the movie Light of My Life.
“Holy crap! Hollywood just came to Maple Bay,” she posted on Facebook.
Declared another fan: “Casey Affleck is in the hood.”
The film’s bearded star, writer and director began shooting Thursday morning under tight security at Elkington House, a heritage-status farmhouse on a Garry Oak nature preserve.
“People want to know what the name of the movie is, and the ladies are going: ‘Oh, he’s so hot!’ ” said Caroline Whitehead, manager of Maple Bay’s Lion Rampant Scottish Pub.
“I don’t even know what Casey Affleck looks like, though. I’ll have to Google him.”
While Affleck, who won best actor for his role in Manchester
by the Sea, attracted paparazzi during filming on the Lower Mainland, response in North Cowichan has been more subdued.
“I don’t think we’re all that star struck around here,” said Jackie Smith, assistant manager at the Shipyard Restaurant & Pub at Maple Bay Marina.
“Casey who?” asked one of the pub’s regulars.
Customer Joanna Neilson admitted she was intrigued by the sight of the film unit’s trucks parked on a lot near the Maple Bay firehall.
“If they didn’t have security guards blocking the food trucks, I’d probably have gone there rather than here for lunch because I come here all the time,” she quipped.
“I don’t give a hoot about movies or anything. The last movie I saw was probably West Side Story,” said Ulrich Briner, a Lion Rampant Scottish Pub patron.
Co-owner Bruce Findlay said art-department crews have been regular customers at his pub for two weeks.
“That obviously helped our bottom line,” he said. “This is putting Maple Bay on the map again.”
David Messier, Maple Bay Marina general manager and Maple Bay Community Association vice-president, said crews have come in for coffee but he hasn’t seen much “star power.”
“We’re very supportive of these kinds of things,” Messier said. “No one is really making waves around here.”
Locals appear to be taking minor disruptions in stride, including traffic being detoured from a short stretch of Maple Bay Road during filming.
Affleck plays a father trapped in the woods with his young daughter in the wake of a lethal pandemic. He has been elusive but there have been sightings.
Judy McDonald brought her binoculars during her Thursday morning walk and got a glimpse of Affleck “coming out of the woods with the little girl,” referring to co-star Anna Pniowksy.
“I told my son Daniel we’d do our best to see Casey Affleck,” she said.
“He said: ‘Mom, I knew if anyone could do it, you could.’ ”